B and N Codoped Cellulose-Supported Ag-/Bi-Doped Mo(S,O)₃ Trimetallic Sulfo-Oxide Catalyst for Photocatalytic H₂...

Cellulose plays a significant role in designing efficient and stable cellulose-based metallic catalysts, owing to its surface functionalities. Its hydroxyl groups are used as anchor sites for the nucleation and growth of metallic nanoparticles and, as a result, improve the stability and catalytic activity. Meanwhile, cellulose is also amenable to surface modifications to be more suitable for incorporating and stabilizing metallic nanoparticles. Herein, the Ag-/Bi-doped Mo(S,O)₃ trimetallic sulfo-oxide anchored on B and N codoped cellulose (B-N-C) synthesized by a facile approach showed excellent stability and catalytic activity for PHER at 573.28 μmol/h H₂ with 25 mg of catalyst under visible light, and 92.3% of the 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) reduction was achieved within 135 min by in situ-generated protons. In addition to B and N codoping, our use of the calcination method for B-N-C preparation further increases the structural disorders and defects, which act as anchoring sites for Ag-/Bi-doped Mo(S,O)₃ nanoparticles. The Ag-/Bi-doped Mo(S,O)₃@B-N-C surface active site also stimulates H₂O molecule adsorption and activation kinetics and reduces the photogenerated charge carrier's recombination rate. The Mo⁴⁺ → Mo⁶⁺ electron hopping transport and the O 2p and Bi 6s orbital overlap facilitate the fast electron transfer by enhancing the electron's lifetime and photoinduced charge carrier mobility, respectively. In addition to acting as a support, B-N-C provides a highly conductive network that enhances charge transport, and the relocated electron in B-N-C activates the H₂O molecule, which enables Ag-/Bi-doped Mo(S,O)₃@B-N-C to have appreciable PHER performance.